1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to medication dispensers and, more particularly, to a medication dispenser wherein a variety of different medicines can be dispensed at selected intervals to be determined by the user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the problems confronting physicians is their inability to insure that patients will take a required dosage of medicine at regular, prescribed intervals. Failure to take the required dosage at the required intervals greatly diminishes the effectiveness of the medication. Conversely, taking the required dosage at more frequent intervals than prescribed can have undesirable effects. Consequently, it is of great importance that medication be taken in the required dosage at the required times in order that the benefits of the medication may be achieved.
The problem is exaggerated in the case of those who are chronically ill or elderly. These patients often are prescribed a wide variety of drugs or vitamins whose frequency and sequence of consumption may be difficult to keep in mind. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a device that will inform the patient exactly when medication is to be taken. Preferably, the device also will dispense the medicine so that any possibility of error will be eliminated.
Prior medication dispensing devices have dispensed medicine or a medicine-containing cannister upon the occurence of a given event. Sometimes the event is a predetermined one such as the passage of a certain amount of time, and sometimes the event is nothing but a mechanical input from the user. Certain devices are known in which medicine is fed by gravity from a rotary carousel. Further, upon rotational indexing of the carousel, the medicine is fed by gravity into a tray or other container. A drawback with this method of dispensing is that only one dispensing operation occurs at any given time. Accordingly, in order for different medicine to be taken at different intervals, it is necessary to carefully load the carousel so that accurate dispensing operations occur. It is easy to make mistakes with devices of this nature, and thus they are of limited usefulness.
Another type of medication dispenser feeds medicine-containing cannisters by gravity from a vertical or inclined chute. A representative device of this category of dispensers is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,697 to Glucksman et al. In the '697 patent, a vertically oriented compartment contains a plurality of medicine-containing vials. A solenoid-controlled release lever engages the lowermost vial in order to keep the vials within the compartment. Upon pivoting the lever, the lowermost vial is dropped into a dispenser mouth. A drawback of the '697 patent is that, like the "carousel" patents referred to above, the vials are dispensed one at a time. Therefore, in order to dispense varied medicines, it is necessary to carefully load and arrange each of the vials.
Other medicine-containing cannisters that are fed by gravity also are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,342 to Guarr and U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,045 to Williams, employ a large number of individual cannisters that are loaded into magazines or chutes, where they can be dispensed upon command. Although the devices disclosed in the '342 and the '045 patents are effective for the purposes indicated, they are suitable only for hospitals or pharmacies due to their large size and complexity. It would be impractical for devices of this nature to be made available for use by the average consumer.
Another type of dispenser dispenses medicine by gravity from a vertical chute by means of a horizontal pusher. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,829 to Cogdell et al discloses a medication dispensing means wherein pills are stacked in a vertical magazine. A feed plate is disposed beneath the magazine. The feed plate includes an opening adapted to receive the lowermost pill. Upon horizontal displacement of the plate, the lowermost pill is carried away from the bottom of the magazine and is deposited into a recess that is accessible to the user. The patent discloses an automatic timing mechanism for actuating the feed plate, as well as an alarm and a warning light to inform the user that a dispensing operation has occurred. Other devices of this general class are U.S. Pat. No. 721,971 to Shafer et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,801 to Carlson.
Despite the availablility of various medication dispensers such as those referred to above, certain problems remain. These problems may be summarized by stating that there is no commercially available low cost medication dispenser that will accurately and automatically dispense different medicines at different intervals.